information when leaving Switzerland

Can I remain Swiss resident when I leave for a postdoc or a PhD abroad?

The procedure differs from community to community. In some communities, residents can sign off temporarily and remain resident in their community during a (limited) stay abroad. The advantage is that you can keep your health insurance. Ask at your community or cantonal authority.

Can I keep my insurances in Switzerland?

Your contributions to the OASI, DI and IC stop as soon as you stop working in Switzerland, and you cannot keep them. Contact our OASI/DI/IC-page in the Insurance section.

The unemployment insurance stop as soon as you stop working in Switzerland as well, and you cannot keep it. However, if you come back to Switzerland and you are jobless, you are entitled to unemployment benefit. Contact our unemployment page in the Insurance section for further information.

Health insurances are not legally obligated to insure persons working and living abroad. However, some offer international insurance policies. Ask your insurance about its offers. The Auslandschweizer Organisation provides useful information as well.

Social Assistance for Swiss Nationals Abroad

Swiss nationals who are faced with severe economic difficulties in a foreign country and receive insufficient aid from the social services may contact the Social Assistance for Swiss Nationals Living Abroad or the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad.

Employees and those who have been made redundant in the EU/EFTA member states have a right to social welfare support and - under the bilateral agreement between Switzerland and the EU/EFTA - the right to stay in the country. Persons not in employment (such as job seekers, students, pensioners etc.) and self-employed persons who become reliant on social welfare may have their residence permit revoked.

Swiss living in France must - under a bilateral welfare agreement - first always contact the social services authorities responsible for their place of residence.

Swiss expatriates looking for work

If you are a Swiss national living abroad and looking for a job in Switzerland, you can send your application to the Federal Office for Migration. They will publish your details in their bulletin "Swiss nationals from abroad looking for a job" which appears every two months and is distributed among companies and employment agencies all over Switzerland. For details see Swiss expatriates looking for work .

Links and hints

If you got a SNSF-fellowship (Post-Doc-Stipendium) to make a post-doc abroad, you find useful information about taxes, insurances etc provided by the SNSF ( deutsch / français ).

ch.ch : Very useful information concerning your duties and rights and everyday’s life for Swiss living abroad.